Robert Triggs/Android Authority
TL; DR
- Samsung introduced astrophotography features to the Galaxy S21 series with the latest update in April 2023.
- Users will need the latest Expert RAW app and update from the Galaxy Store.
- You can then click long exposure shots of up to 10 minutes of the night sky and also take advantage of the constellation overlay features to identify nearby stars.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 series may be about two years old, but all three phones inside are still solid devices with some years of relevance left in them. Samsung is also best in class when it comes to updates, which greatly extends the usefulness of older devices. For the Galaxy S21 series, users can now access astrophotography features on the Expert RAW app with the latest update in April 2023.
The Galaxy S21 series received a huge 1GB update for April 2023, with plenty of camera and gallery app improvements. people over SamMobile I found that the update also enables the astrophotography features in the Expert RAW app.
The main advantage of a feature dedicated to astrophotography is that you can take long exposure photos of the night sky. You’ll need clear skies, low light pollution, and a tripod for your phone. You can then take photos of up to 10 minutes of exposure, which will bring out the stars in the night sky straight from the Galaxy S21. You can also make use of the constellations overlay feature to identify nearby stars and celestial bodies.
Note that you will need the April 2023 update on the Galaxy S21 series phone and also the dedicated Expert RAW camera app, which you can download from the Galaxy Store.
Astrophotography features were expected to arrive with the OneUI 5.1 update for the phone, but that apparently didn’t work out. Better late than never!